Sentence Transformers v6.0 adds MultiVectorEncoder for late-interaction retrieval
Sentence Transformers v6.0 adds a fourth model type, MultiVectorEncoder, for ColBERT-style late-interaction retrieval. PyLate and Stanford-NLP ColBERT checkpoints can be loaded directly, and visual document-retrieval models from colpali-engine can use the same API.
Why it matters: The source explains how to load, score, and index with the multi-vector encoder, helping readers decide whether late-interaction retrieval is worth adopting over an existing dense approach.